In the first part of this blog series, I shared experiences that had happened to me and colleagues over my career. Undoubtedly, these experiences affected me personally emotionally, psychologically and physically when the stress of it all became too much. It also affected my career opportunities – I know of several occasions when I was denied promotion and further opportunities because of the behaviour of others. If this style of destructive and hostile leadership is common (and I suspect it may be), then this must have a detrimental impact on our schools.

What’s more, most of the situations I described in the first part of this blog series should be classified as workplace bullying or harrassment (this guide by Education Support is helpful in explaining what bullying is and how you can tackle it Bullying and harassment of teachers and education staff)

The impact of bullying and harassment in the workplace is well established. Bullying and harassment makes someone feel anxious and humiliated. Some people may try to retaliate in some way. Others may become frightened and demotivated. Targets of workplace bullying often report low self-esteem, isolation, depression or anxiety. Some find their physical health suffers as they struggle with insomnia or self-medicate with alcohol or recreational drugs. The mental pressure of continued bullying can also manifest in physical symptoms, such as nausea, headaches, high blood pressure, skin rashes or an irritable bowel (Bullying and harassment of teachers and education staff)

Most schools take the bullying of children very seriously- policies are written and complaints addressed. It is not always true that schools are places where all children feel they belong. There are well documented cases of school leaders being clear to parents that their children are not welcome (often because the school down the road does SEND better), and where children are humiliated, as school leaders “flatten the grass”.

But what happens when an entire workforce is bullied? Research highlights that teachers and leaders leave the profession due to excessive workloads, lack of support, relatively low levels of pay in relation to other sectors, and the stress of an extremely high stakes accountability system (New data reveals the scale of the teacher retention crisis | Tes.) To me, it seems entirely possible that the entire sector has been bullied for the past 15 years or so. This was evident during the COVID pandemic. Schools became the focus of support for communities and vulnerable children. I was a headteacher at the time. Of course, in such a time of crisis, the staff team and I were committed to ensure the school supported our community in the best way possible. But as the pandemic continued, this felt increasingly impossible. It is important to remember that for school leaders, the endless rewriting of policy and advice was overwhelming. One minute we were closing the school, the next we were opening, in 48 hours with a huge raft of safety measures to be put in place. Schools budgets were placed under huge strain buying hand sanitizer, PPE and digital equipment – not to mention new digital packages and training to enable staff to deliver online teaching. For a small school, with high levels of pupil premium and children with Special Educational Needs, and key worker parents this meant that around 50% of the children were entitled to be in school. Staff found it incredibly hard to manage in class teaching and digital online teaching at the same time. With high levels of Free School Meals, every day we delivered meals all around the town. We had a duty of care to these vulnerable children and every day, I asked the staff to make sure they saw each child they delivered a meal too. All concerns were recorded and reported. All parents were phoned every week to make sure everything was going OK. We worked incredibly hard to do what we were asked, by the government, to do – that is ensure the community was safe. The staff were amazing in the way they supported and cared for each other. Of course there were moments of tension and fear, but I was incredibly proud to work with such a committed group of people who all pulled together during an incredibly difficult time. I know many school leaders felt the same.

Yet once the pandemic was over and life began to get back to normal, all of this seemed to be forgotten. Standards had dropped and it was the fault of schools for failing to provide a proper education for the children during the pandemic (despite the strenuous efforts we made to do exactly what we were asked to do). It was incredible that academic outcomes suddenly become more valued over and above the physical, emotional and social development of children. All that mattered to national leaders (DFE, Ofsted and those who worked for) was exam outcomes and this, in my opinion, has contributed enormously to the rise in special educational needs. As the children returned to school, we noticed a difference in their gross and fine motor skills – they bumped into things a lot. We put in place extra PE and outdoor play. Handwriting was an issue; social skills and being able to express themselves emotionally was a problem. Speech, language and communication skills were lacking. All of these essential aspects of learning that happen in the primary school had been affected. But no, there was no funding or support for developing these skills. Tutoring in reading, writing and maths, centrally managed and delivered by well meaning, but unqualified people was the way forward, for every school, in every community, regardless. The rest, I imagine, would be provided for by parents and carers – but that is a blog for another time).

Perhaps this could be considered to be another form of systematic, system-level bullying. It is rife in the policy sphere. Policy is made without consideration of the views who do the job – it is societal and organisational bullying by exclusion. Any teacher/leader panels tend to become London-centric; think-tanks, educational charities and policy wonks (often without much practical school experience) occupy the dialogue space. They write glossy reports (claiming to be research studies) that subtly encourage political viewpoints and agendas. If you look at the education press, most articles are written by men, despite the majority of teachers and leaders in every school sphere being female; an unconscious sexism denying the views of most of the population the opportunity to present their perspective. This is not policy making with children at the heart of the decision making and for the teachers and headteachers who come into education to do well by the children, this becomes increasingly hard to manage. Policy is made without any consideration to the views and opinions of the hidden leaders and the experts in their schools who have such a depth of understanding about their community. Psychologists might describe it as experiencing moral injury, causing schools to become psychologically impossible to work in. Education becomes a political football, rather than a serious moral and ethical endeavour. It becomes about the pursuit of power and the abuse of power.

There are many things that are unspoken – they happen and are brushed way, in the interests of reputations and power. Actions always speak louder than words.

Places to go for further information

If you think you’re being bullied – Bullying at work – Acas

Bullying and harassment – UNISON National

Equality Act 2010

Home | Rights of Women – free legal advice for women

Education Support, supporting teachers and education staff